


In One of the Stars I Shall Be Living

by oliszka



Category: Les Misérables - Victor Hugo
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-19
Updated: 2013-07-19
Packaged: 2017-12-20 18:01:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/890203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oliszka/pseuds/oliszka
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Jehan was in reality– well, you’ll see.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In One of the Stars I Shall Be Living

When the echo of the gunshots that have killed Jean Prouvaire resounds in their ears, there is a moment of deep silence. Although they don’t actually see their friend fall, separated from him by the barricade, the amis can see his image in their minds very clearly. To each of them he appears captured in one particular moment they would always remember him by.

~~~

And so Enjolras remembers the moment he first noticed that someone new has joined their company. Even though he has asked everyone about the new student, nobody admitted to being the one who brought him there. He seemed to have materialised in the back room of the Cafe Musain out of thin air and yet he was already having friendly chats with everyone. What has surprised Enjolras the most though was that when he wanted to introduce him to the society and talk about its goals, in their conversation Jehan claimed that he personally knew one king. However, he described him as “absurd" and “ridiculous" and also sympathised wholeheartedly with the repressed people, so Enjolras didn’t have any objections against him joining their ranks.

Joly and Bossuet both thought of that sunny day in may when they first took Jehan to Jardin de Luxembourg. On entering it, he suddenly stopped in his tracks and his mouth fell open in astonishment. He looked around at the hundreds of blooming rosebushes as if he had never seen that many flowers in one place. Bossuet could swear that at one point he heard Jehan talking to the roses, but he didn’t say anything to Joly because he knew that it would just make him worry if their friend didn’t have a fever.

Feuilly thought of how Jehan always loved to look at the sky, especially at night when you could see all of the stars. He would often lie down, take in the sight of the vastness scattered with bright sparks, and smile, sometimes even laugh to himself. Once, when his curiosity got the better of him, Feuilly asked the poet what was it that he could see there that others couldn’t; what was making him so happy. When Jehan spoke, he didn’t answer the question, but said “People need to learn how to see with their hearts, not just with their eyes".

Combeferre remembered one of the meetings in the Cafe Musain. He couldn’t remember how their conversation started but he and Jehan ended up arguing about baobabs. Well, maybe Combeferre wasn’t an expert, but he had read some books on dendrology and he knew for sure that Jehan’s ideas about the early growth of baobabs were completely wrong. However, no matter how many documented, logical proofs he presented, the young poet would only flush from anger and repeat his own opinion. Seeing that he was too stubborn to listen to his arguments, Combeferre let out a sigh and decided to leave the matter.

Courfeyrac thought of Jehan’s poetry. He loved listening to him reading his verses out loud, his voice trembling slightly: first from shyness, then from emotion. His poems were proof of his wild imagination; they told stories of proud princesses living in castles made of glass, of people living on other planets, and of travellers soaring through the sky carried by flocks of birds. They would always give Courfeyrac an unearthly feeling, but there was also a certain melancholy in them. Was it after Jehan’s home or maybe after someone he has lost?

Finally Grantaire, still asleep with his head on a table, surrounded by empty bottles, dreamed of the day when, out of nowhere, Jehan asked him to draw him a sheep. Even though Grantaire has warned him that he had very little practice in drawing animals, especially sheep, the poet insisted as if it was no less important than the deliverance of the suffering masses. So Grantaire drew him a sheep as well as he could, but Jehan didn’t like it and asked him for another. When he rejected the second and the third sheep as well, Grantaire got a little bit annoyed (come on, they were rather good for drawing without reference and under influence!), so the next sketch that he tossed at Jehan was one of a box with a row of small holes along its sides.

"Your sheep is inside."

"This one is perfect, thank you!"

The way Jehan’s face lit up at the sight of what was meant to be a sarcastic joke has left Grantaire speechless for a good half an hour.

~~~

The death of the young poet is a blow to all of them. They can’t help pangs of guilt and then a desire for revenge sneaking into their hearts. Because as one fox has said, "You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed."

**Author's Note:**

> Now if you have never read The Little Prince, [do it](http://srogers.com/books/little_prince/contents.asp). It will make a bit more sense ~~and hurt so much more~~.


End file.
